1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates the vehicle seats. More specifically, the present invention relates to a slider rail that allows for the detaching and longitudinal positioning of a vehicle seat.
2. Background of the Related Art
As lifestyles improve and formerly complex objects are simplified, multi-purpose products having various functions have been introduced to market. This is due to man's natural desire for a more convenient and simple life by avoiding unnecessary work and financial loss. For example, a multi-purpose vehicle is utilized in a business capacity for transporting luggage on business trips, and in a personal capacity for transporting goods on family road trips. Most of these multi-purpose vehicles are passenger cars that also have commercial functions.
Different from common passenger cars, these multi-purpose vehicles are designed so that their inner space can be changed for various purposes when required. For example, in multi-purpose vehicles, the rear seats (such as the second or third row of seats) can be detached, thereby enabling an easy switch of roles between a cargo space and a passenger seat. This detachable seat can be easily separated from the vehicle body floor panel when a large cargo area is required and expansion of the inner space of the vehicle is required. A locking device is installed below the seat for fixing the seat to or releasing the seat from the floor. This detachable seat must be constructed so that a user can easily detach or mount it, but more importantly to ensure the user's safety.
Additionally, to further increase efficient use of the a multi-purpose vehicle's inner space, it is desirable that the position of the seat and its mounting state be adjusted flexibly and variously, as compared to a common passenger car. For example, the conventional position adjustment of passenger seats has been related to a user's comfort, depending on his or her physical body condition. However, recent multi-purpose vehicles require, for more efficient use of the space thereof, detachability of the seat, double-folding of the seat, and increased sliding length of the seat.
The conventional slider rail, however, does not provide adequate sliding length. Particularly, in the case of a detachable seat, locking the seat to a striker fixed to the vehicle body is required, and therefore, there is a structural limitation in lengthening the sliding length. For conventional passenger seats, if a longer fixed rail is fixed to the vehicle body floor panel, the position-adjustable length can be increased. In case of a conventional detachable seat, however, the fixed rail must to be affixed to a stationary locking device. Consequently, a limitation exists in increasing the position-adjustable length.
Furthermore, conventionally, the slider rail is installed inside the seat so that the weight of the whole seat is inevitably increased, and thus a user must handle the heavy seat when mounting or detaching it, thereby leading to inconvenience in the mounting and detaching work.